2011 - Day Eighty Five; Saturday...

Okay, I hope you are all settled in and comfy, this entry has all the earmarks of being a double-issue. If you know how chatty I get when I say I am going to be brief, I would beware since I am already making a disclaimer.

Actually, nothing much went as planned today. I am always pretty pleased that I can be flexible, but it was a little bit crazy today. Yesterday my friend Konrad (who owns Round Rock Honey Company) called and said he would be by this morning and we would work the hives. We got five of them worked, and I only got stung three times, which is not even close to a record number of stings for me in one day. I have to tell you, those hives were not happy, and it was not even the hive that we dropped. Anyway, we took a look at four of the hives, and there were no major issues with any of them, so that is a really good thing. This is a picture of me holding one of the frames from one of the haves, and it is COVERED with honey. I think Konrad actually took this frame to have the honey tested, and he will report back when he gets the word from A&M.

As we were working the hives, I had to go back to the barn for something, and I saw on the ground what I thought was a partially eaten opossum corpse, but it turned out to be an Owlet. So, that kind of changed my plans for the day in a big way. While Konrad and I were wrapping up the hives, I asked Jody to see if he could find a raptor rescue in the phone book. Well, the phone books do not really provide as much information as we would like (or have been trained to require lately) so once I had a chance to settle, I looked on the Internet and found a rescue guy, and called him and we had a nice talk. At that time, I had not really studied the Owlet, because I did not really want to disturb it. Anyway, I was directed to go back and get more information, including a more accurate estimate of its' size. I did all that, and picked it up to see if it was relatively healthy. I really thought it was a young bird, maybe just a day or two old. I sent the guy an e-mail with four photos, and we talked again on the phone.

Well, the next thing you know, Jody and I are both in the car with the Owlet in a shoe box. The rehab place (the guys home in Cedar Park) was about 35 miles away from us, but when we got there, we found out that this little one was most likely about four weeks old. The guy met us at the door with his wife and two dogs. Once inside, he weighed the Owlet, and offered it some 'diced mice' with a really long pair of industrial tweezers. Well, that brought some life into the little one, and we all breathed a sign of relief. We talked for a while, and made plans to communicate back and forth, and keep up with the progress of the Owlet. They need to get it somewhere there is another owl, so it will not 'imprint' with humans; an Owl that is not afraid of humans is a danger to itself.

SO, after we left there, I stopped at a nearby Target to see if I could find one particular thing (I could not, and Jody stayed in the car to listen to 'Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me), but I did run into Keith, the manager of the Dairy Queen in Georgetown. He was there with his daughter, and we talked for a few minutes, and I told him of our adventures so far that day. It was about 10:30 by this time, and I told him that we were on our way to Dairy Queen.

When we got to Dairy Queen, we found out that Keith had called ahead and the hot fudge sundae I had and the Mint Oreo Blizzard that Jody ordered were 'on the house'. It is nice to have friends at ice cream places!

While we were driving to the rehab place, I got a call from the service manager at the Chevrolet dealer where I purchased the car. It seems they are STILL talking to engineers in Detroit, and that they are taking 'several parts' off the assembly lines in Detroit, flying three engineers into Austin, and I have an appointment to leave my car with them for a few days starting Wednesday of this week. AND, instead of a gas guzzler, I will be given their other VOLT as a loaner while mine is in the shop. I told they guy that I intended to do some bonding with the engineers and would like to spend two or three hours with them, and he said that would be fine. So I think that is pretty cool. I will let you know how that goes.

Once we got home, we both went down for naps, and I finally got up and went out and checked the pool. In our haste, the pool woman had been here but we had to leave to go to the rehab place. When we got back the pool was doing really well, and I went out and started cleaning off the deck so it can be cleaned and stained tomorrow. My goal for today had been to scrape the cedar columns in front of the house and seal them with a latex polyurethane, but all I managed to get done was the scraping part. Tomorrow is another day.

We did get six eggs from the girls today, and we will keep them in their pen tomorrow while we are staining the decks. They will not be happy about that. While I was scraping the last of the columns, Jody and the dog went for a ride. Jody and the dog go for a ride just about every day, and Jody has found that it is much easier for the dog to get in and out of the car with the help of an ottoman. I am not saying anything here, but I think this is really cute. We know some other folks who have stories about their pets, but I think this one is really cute. They do not go anywhere, but they just kind of go around the block...and out here that means about a six or seven mile drive. It usually takes them about twenty minutes, and when it is all over, the dog gets a nice dog biscuit. I think this whole thing started when Jody took the dog with him to the drive-thru, and the dog trained Jody that it would be a good thing to take him for a ride every day.

The next thing on the list was to go into Austin and attend the Elks Lodge 2011-2012 Installation of Lodge Officers. One of our agents (Pat) was installed today at the Esteemed Loyal Knight of the Lodge, and my business partner (Carrie) was installed as the Lodge Inner Guard. They have both worked really hard on behalf of the Lodge, and it was really fun and interesting to see them Installed, and to listen to all the tradition and ceremony behind the Installation. Congratulations to both of them. This is a photo of Pat and Carrie after the Installation.

On the way home, clouds were developing, and I took this photo just to remind myself of how much I really enjoy clouds. Seeing these clouds reminds me that it has been a while since we have seen any clouds, let alone seen any rain. BUT, I have faith in the sage that is blooming up by the road. We really need some rain.

SO, that is about it for today. Tomorrow I will get some work done. Or not; I can be flexible.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, OWLETS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!